The Survivor

The Survivor

Gregg Hurwitz

Genre: Thriller

Summary (from Goodreads):  One morning in Los Angeles, Nate Overbay—a divorced former solider suffering from PTSD and slowly dying from ALS — goes to an eleventh-floor bank, climbs out of the bathroom window onto the ledge, and gets ready to end it all. But as he’s steeling himself, a crew of robbers bursts into the bank and begins to viciously shoot employees and customers. With nothing to lose, Nate confronts the robbers, taking them out one-by-one. The last man standing leaves Nate with a cryptic warning.

Nate soon learns what that message meant. He is kidnapped by Pavlo, a savage Russian mobster and mastermind of the failed heist. Unable to break back into the bank to get the critical item inside, Pavlo gives Nate an ultimatum—break in and get what he needs or watch Pavlo slowly kill the one thing Nate loves most—his ex-wife Janie and his teenaged daughter Cielle—both lost when he came back from Iraq broken and confused. Now he’s got one last chance to protect the people he loves, even if it’s the last thing he is able to do.

Review: This is the first book I've read by this author, and I will definitely be checking out his other books.  It's an action packed thriller with sympathetic characters, realistic dialogue, little snippets of comedy, and even some feel-good relationship moments.  Sure, there were moments when the action felt too over-the-top made-for-a-movie-ish,  and times when the teenage daughter and her boyfriend were annoying.  And, from the beginning, you can tell that there's no way to have an entirely happy ending.  But all in all, it was a very entertaining, fast-paced, easy to read book.

Rating: 4 stars